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( No. 499,749. Patented June 20, 1893.

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No. 499,749. Patented-June 20, 1893.

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J. R. McDONALD.

PRINTING PRESS.

No. 499,749. Patented June 20, 1893.

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PRINTING PRESS. No. 499,749. Patented June 20, 1893.

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, UNITED STATES PATENT O FtcE.

JAMES R. MCDONALD, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PRINTING-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 499,749, dated June 20, 1893.

Application filed January 6, 1,892.; Serial No. 417,16014- (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES R. MCDONALD, a citizen of "the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates primarily to job presses for small work such as return requests and similar matter upon envelopes, and for printing cards, circulars and the like.

Heretofore the usual small j ob-press has required a careful placing and positioning of the material to be printed upon the platen and against guides or registers, usually quads pasted upon the tympan sheet, the latter then carrying such material against the form, to receive the impression and after a short dwell being returned to receiving position when the printed sheet is removed by hand.

The purpose of the present invention is to feed the sheets rapidly to the platen and discharge them upon the other side of the machine when printed, without the exercise of any care other than their delivery by hand to a conveyer with a rapidity commensurate with the speed of the machine and without special regard to their placing, positioning or regis- 1n carrying out the invention an inverted bed is employed capable of being rocked to bring the form uppermost in order that corrections may be made or the old form removed and a new form inserted. The body of the bed is in a sense a hollow drum, or barrel though of irregular outline and around it travel the inking rollers, being caused to follow its outline and pass over the planed surface forming the bed proper, by strong springs holding the rollers to its face or to peripheral tracks upon or adjacent to its heads or ends. In their passage they receive ink from localized spreading rolls and leaving these pass over the face of the type, once for each printing operation. The platen is mounted upon a vibrating frame beneath the bed, the axis of vibration of this frame being at a considerable distance from the bed. Mounted also in this frame is a suitable conveyer, for instance, two or more positively driven belts having pins placed abreast of each other in pairsatintervals corresponding to the Hill,

ing of the machine, so that material fed at the end farthest from the platen to each set or pair of pins, will successively arrive at the platen and properly deposited thereon in the intervals between each impression. A rake or pusher takes the material from the belts as it approaches the platen and carries it on beneath presser springs above the platen, and against stationary register pins at the outer end of the platen, but not attached thereto, then the platen moves up against the form and an impression is given and at the same moment, and just as it begins the descent,

. the outer margin of the sheet or envelope or whatever it may be, is seized by horizontal vibrating gripping fingers and having been, by the upward movement of the platen, carried above the register points, it is, as the platen descends, drawn outward and deposited in a suitable receptacle. Thus the operation is continuous, the attendant at the feed end simply supplying material to the conveyer belts as fast as each set of conveyerpins comes around often using each band alternately to keep up with the speed'of the machine, paying no regard to alignment or to actual contact with the pins, but leaving the entire positioning and registering to the machine itself.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side eleva tion of a machine .embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section therethrough on the correspondingly numbered 'line in the fourth figure, showing the platen down and'the inking rolls traveling over the form. Fig. 3 is a similar longitudinal verti-- cal section upon the same line, but showing the platen up for the purpose of making an impression, the inking rolls just beyond the distributing rolls and traveling over the cylindrical inking plate. Fig. 4 is a top plan view on the correspondingly numbered line in the first figure of the drawings, showing only the conveying devices and platen. Fig. 5 is practically a horizontal section on the irregular line 55 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 6,a vertical section on the correspondingly numbered line of the tenth figure of the drawings, showing the action of the gripper fingers when seizing the margin of a sheet; Fig. 7, also a vertical section on the line 77 of said tenth figure, showing the gripper fingers withdrawn and open. Figs. 8 and 9 are enlarged details of the gripper fingers, the first intended to correspond with their position in the sixth figure of the drawings and the second to correspond with their position in the seventh figure of the drawings. Fig. 10 is a transverse section on the correspondingly numbered line in the first figure, showing the relation of the platen, register points and friskets and also of the gripper fingers and receptacle for printed matter; Fig. 11, a transverse detail view on the correspondingly numbered line in the fourth figure of the drawings. Fig. 12 is a vertical transverse section mainly on the line indicated in the first figure and partly on the line indicated in the third figure; Fig. 13, an enlarged detail in side elevation of the bed-frame or barrel and a gear for the ink distributing devices, together with the lever for rotating the drum to bring the bed uppermost; Fig. 14:, an enlarged detail of the device shown in the foregoing figure, but in top-plan View; Fig. 15, an enlarged detail in section, of the holding clamp for the lever whereby the bed clamp or frame is rotated to bring the bed uppermost.

A represents a strong metal frame for the support of the various shafts, brackets and other accessories of the mechanism.

Bis a rock-shaft mounted in bearings, 5, near the top of the frame and capable of being rocked by a lever, B, (Figs. 1 and 13.) This lever when down and holding the shaft in its efiective position will be retained by any suitable clip or catch, for instance, the clip, B which is secured to the frame by a hand-screw, b, andspring, b the object of the latter being to open the catch whenever the screw is released without any trouble being given to the attendant further than to retract the screw.

Upon the. just mentioned rock-shaft is secured the bed, B of the machine, so as to turn with said shaft whenever the latter is oscillated. The body of this bed in effect is an irregular shaped barrel through which the rock shaft runs centrally having one face formed as a planed surface to afford the bedplate proper, and the remainder, either described on a regular are as shown or of any suitable outline for its purpose. In the pres ent instance it is shown as described on a center or as having'the outline of a segment of a cylinder to serve as an inking table, as presently described. At each end of the bedplate proper, are grooved flanges, b that is to say the heads, B of the barrel extend beyond the face of the bed and are grooved. These grooves receive the edges, b, of the chase, B in which the form is locked, and a screw, 11 (Fig. 3,) passed through the bedplate retains the chase in position when it has been put in place. The chase is shown as made with a bottom, b upon which the type are imposed and which rests against the bed, but obviously it may be made without such bottom, provided the bed itself is planed true and smooth. At each end of the bed and upon its rock-shaft, as a journal, are mounted equal loose gears, 13", the inner faces of which are channeled to form parallel guides, B one on each side of the shaft, for the reception of the square boxes, 11 of the inking-rolls, B that revolve around the bed and inking table. To each of the roller boxes is secured a rod, 19 parallel with its guide-way and playing through a lug, 13, forming the end of said guide-Way opposite to the roller, and a coiled spring, 12 inclosing said rod, acts to draw the boxes and the rollers carried by them, toward the periphery of the bed and of the inking table, so that the rollers will pass evenly over the fiat surface of the form and then accommodate themselves to the cylindrical surface of the inking table. These independent gearwheels at each end of the bed, and which may be termed the inking-gears, are driven at equal speed from the main shaft, .0, by means of a pinion, O, on said shaft, and interposed transmission gears, 0 one at each end of a counter-shaft, G which mesh with said inking-gears at the respective ends of the shaft, so that the alignment of the inking-rolls will be preserved as they pass around the bed and inking-table for each impression. The pinion on the main shaft is loosely mounted thereon, but has an elongated hub, c, terminating in a clutch-box or shield, 0, inside of which an ordinary friction-band is arranged in a well known way. A lever, 0 is pivoted to the box and at one end secured to an end of the strap so as to bind it tightly about an extension of the hub within the box, when suitably actuated. A sliding cone, C is mounted upon the shaft adjacent to the clutchlever, and moved toward or from its free end by means of hand lever, 0 to operate it. When moved toward it the cone surface, 0 first passes under the free end and raises it until it rests upon the peripheral plane surface, c, when the strap will be tight and the pinion clutched to the shaft. By withdrawing the sliding cone the clutch-lever will be released, the strap unloosened and the pinion unclutched.

As the inking-rollers are carried around by the revolution of the gear-wheels driven at equal speed from the main end and countershafts, they would be liable to be out if the transition from the bed to the inking-table.

was sharp, that is: if they passed immediately from a plane surface to a cylindrical surface they would be cut at the angle, 0 formed between the two. Therefore the heads of the barrel which form the bed and inking-table are made with rounded bulges, c, at these angles or corners and lift the inking-rollers temporarily from contact with the barrel itself, carrying them around the angle and then letting them down either upon the form imposed upon the bed or upon the inking-table.

The gear-wheels are formed with cam-proj ections, O, abreast of each other and inside of the series of teeth, so as not to interfere with their enmeshment. stance these cam-projections are shown as integral with a disk to which gear-rims are attached, but it will be understood that it is immaterial whether they are made integral with the teeth of the gear-wheel, or whether the latter are rigidly secured'to the face of the disk in the form of a rim. These camprojections serve two purposes; they serve to prolong the guideways for the bearing-blocks of the inking-rollers so that the latter may have greater play or their boxes a longer slide; and they also serve to operate ink-feeding and distributing rollers, as will now be explained.

An ink receptacle or fountain, O is located above the machine adjacent to the bed. The bottom, 0 of this fountain is practically a valve or scraper of metal, adjustable by means of set screws, 0 toward a feed-roller, C intermittently driven. In contact with this is a second or spreading roller, 0 of smaller size, supplied by the first from the ink-receptacle. A third roller, 0 of the same size, or practically the same size, as the second is arranged parallel with the latter, being mounted in bearings on pivoted arms or levers, D, the heel-ends of which are pressed up by a spring, cl, encircling a rod, (1, from the frame. The feed-roller is intermittently actuated by an eccentric, D, on the counter-shaft, which eccentric is encircled by a yoke, C1 and, through a rod or pitman,D ,actuates a pawlarm, D pivoted upon the gudgeon of said roller. The connection with this arm is made by means of a block, 01 adj uslable along a slot in the arm by means of a feed-screw, d so as to vary the stroke as may be necessary. A ratchet, D on the gudgeon of the feedroller of the inking-receptacle is engaged by a pawl, (1 upon the pawl arm so that at each downward stroke of the latter, the roller will be intermittently moved a greater or less distance, according to the adjustment of the pit-man connection, for each revolution of the eccentric. The second roller of the just described series is driven by frictional contact with the first or feed roll. The third is not normally in contact with the second but when brought in contact therewith is also frictionally driven thereby. The springs acting upon the heel ends of the levers which carry this third roller tend to keep it normally away from the second, and in contact with a fourth, orsupply-roller,D mounted in swingingarnis, D, to overhang the adjacent side of the cylindrical inking table. Adjustable stops, d acting upon the swinging arms, limit the approach of this last roller to the inking table while permitting it to be lifted away therefrom. The gudgeons of the supply-roller are elongated to allow endwise play in its bearings and a face cam, (1 upon a pinion, D driven by one of the gears which carries the inking rollers, acts upon the end of one of the gudgeons to push the roller in one direction, while a spring, 61 coiled about the gudgeon In the present in carrying the third of the distributing rollers,

or that one which is normally urged into contact with the supply roller, is an anti-friction roll, D or other suitable contact surface, arranged in the path of the cam upon the gearwheel carrying the sliding bearings of the inking rolls at the corresponding side of the machine, and of a concentric track, d extending from one foot of the cam to the other. The cams coming abreast of each other strike the contact surface, whatever it may be, at the end of each lever simultaneously and lift both levers, and with them the distributing roller which they bear, away from the supply roller, carrying the distributing roller against its stationary mate, or the second in the train, to receive a fresh load of ink. lVhile the levers are still held elevated by the concentric reaches of the cams, the first of the inking rollers, running along the inking table, passes beneath the supply roller, slightly lifting it, turning it by frictional contact, and receiving a renewed charge therefrom, then the second inking roller, following, strikes the supply roller just as the levers have run off of the cams and the distributer is again in contact therewith, and also has its charge renewed.

E is the conveyer-frame, pivoted to themachine near its receiving end by means of a through-rod or axle, e, or by any other suitable journal. At the opposite end, beneath the bed it is supported by rods, E, connected by straps, c, with twin eccentrics, E upon the shaft, E hereinafter termed the camshaft, so that, as said shaft is revolved through the intermeshing of its gear, E, with the pinion on the main-shaft, this end will be carried toward the bed and withdrawn therefrom. The gear, E is loose upon the cam -shaft audits hub is formed with a clutch face, 9 with which engages a sliding clutch half, 6 splined to the shaft and controlled by a lever, e, the object of this clutch being to render the cam-shaft idle and non-resistent when it is desired to turn the bed upward. At this end of the conveyor frame, above the camshaft, is mounted the platen, E in such position that it will be brought flatly and squarely against the form upon the bed when the conveyor frame is at its highest elevation. Set screws, E", with nuts, 6 serve to properly adjust the platen relative to the plane of the bed, while the lower ends of the supporting and actuating links themselves are screwed into sockets, e upon their straps to obtain the permanent adjustment of the corresponding end of theconveyerframe,andtheirupperends hinged to said frame by a pivot-rod, 6 which prevents such adjustment from being lost. Springs, E are interposed between the conveyer frame and the main frame or bench beneath the platen to ease the rise and fall of the latter and the action of the eccentrics. At each side of the platen are guides or chutes, e, to receive the edges of the paper or envelope fed to it and these chutes have upwardly curved receiving ends, insuring the proper delivery of the paper thereto'and are open at the'opposite end to permit the withdrawal of the paper at that end after the impression has been made.

F is a shaft at the feed end or receiving end of the conveyer-frame, having a sprocket-wheel, f, keyed to it and taking motion from a similar sprocket wheeLf', on the hub of one of the transmission wheels which drive the inking-gears or upon the counter-shaft carrying such wheels. These sprocket-wheels are shown as connected by a leather belt, F, perforated at intervals, as at f for the reception of the sprocket-teeth, but it is obvious that a chain may be employed instead of a leather belt, the latter being preferred for its cheapness and smooth running. Opposite this end shaft in the conveyer-frame is another or idle shaft, F located near the platen and the two shafts have corresponding sprocket-wheels, f connected preferably by perforated leather belts, F though of course chains may be used. These belts have pins, f at regular intervals and placed abreast of each other on the belts, their distanceapart lengthwise of the belts being determined by the timing of the machine so that the space between each pair of pins shall be in congruence with each successive impression or each successive rise of the platen toward the form.

Supported upon brackets, g, from the conveyer-frame, are transverse rods, G, to which are secured longitudinal flooring strips, G, practically flush with the surface of the upper ply of the conveyer belts just described. Side guards or guides, G are also secured to these rods by split sleeves, g, so that they may be adjusted toward or from each other by unloosening the screw bolts, 9 which clamp the sleeves to the rods. The feed-belts or conveyer-belts will not serve to carry the material to be printed clear home upon the tympan or platen and therefore I provide a raking or pushing device which catches the rear edge of each blank or sheet at the proper time and carries it on into the chute and over the platen, against registenfingers, presently to be described, and then withdraws to rake or push in the succeeding blank when the platen falls. This rake consists of a reciprocating carriage, G mounted upon guiderods, g secured in hangers, g beneath the conveyer and longitudinally thereof, and advisably provided with spring-buffers, 9 at one or both ends to receive the shock of the carriage and prevent jar. From each end of this carriage rise standards, G supporting a transverse rock-shaft, G bridging the conveyer channel. Fingers, g, are forked at their ends, project forward from this shaft and are nortreme of its rearward traverse, the bent tailpiece of the rake has passed the downwardly curved projection, h, at the end of the flange, h, which forms the division between upper and lower ways, and in the succeeding forward movement, being lifted by the action of the spring on its shaft, catches and rides up that curved projection, and snapping past a spring gate,'h enters upon the straight reach of the upper track-way, H, and there remains confined by the overlying flange, it, until it approaches the extreme of its forward traverse when it pushes asidev the curved spring terminal, h, of said upper track-way and is, in the return movement, switched downward to the lower track, H, by the action of the lower surface of said spring terminal. In the rearward traverse from this point it will move in the straight reach of the lower track and be confined therein by the under surface of the dividing flange, h, until it reaches thetermination of the rearward traverse again and rises once more to the upper track in the forward movement. In action therefore the forked push-fingers will be held down yielding upon the flooring slats in the forward movement and will be positively lifted therefore in the rearward movement so as to escape or pass over the blanksor other material being fed forward by the conveyor and come down behind such material in the forward movement, taking it from the conveyer and pushing it into the chutes and over the platen and against the registers. This forward traverse will take place once for each successive pair of feed-fingers on the conveyerbelts, or should be so timed as to take place concordantly therewith. The reciprocation or to-and-fro traverse of the push-finger carriage, as it may be termed, is caused by an eccentric, H on the cam-shaft to which is strapped a connecting rod, H operating a lever, H, the upper end of which is connected by link, h with the carriage, the throw being regulated by means of slot, h and pin, h,

which determine the point of attachment of the connecting-rod lengthwise of the lever.

vK represents the register-pins or gage-stops, secured by means of a split-sleeve, 7t, and thumb-screws, 7a, which permit of their adjustment, toa rod, K, fixed rigidlyon brackets, K from the frame. These register-pins are at the delivery end of the platen and when the latter is down, as it will be whenever a blank is being fed to it, they project above it,

as represented in Fig. 7, but when this platen rises, these fingers, being supported from the fixed frame, are therefore stationary, are left behind, as, in Fig. 6, so that they will interpose no obstacle when the blank or other sheet is withdrawn from, the platen after the impression is taken Before the sheet or blank is carried away, from the control of the gage-stops, however, its edges are clamped down upon the platen by-means of friskets, K which are in effect flat plates, having shanks, 10 set at right angles to the length and adj ustableby means of clamping screws, 10 in guide-sockets,.k at the upper end of vertical sliding rods, K moving in bearings, 16 ,213 the outer end of brackets, K from the conveyer-frame. These rods are connected by links, K, with crank-arms, 10 from a rock-shaft, K Asingle crank arm, 10, from this rock-shaft is pinned to a connecting rod, K slotted at its opposite end to. take over the cam-shaft and having an anti-friction roller, 16*, which travelson the periphery of the eccentric, K and is held down thereagainst by the weight of the superincumbent apparatus and by a spring, is", coiled around its rock-shaft, the effect of these agencies being sufiicient to hold the roller against said periphery and cause it to fall away whenever the eccentric sinks. This construction insures that the platen in its rising movement may clamp the sheet against the friskets and even lift the latter elastically irrespective of the eccentricjifthe-timing be irregular, whilethe eccentric will sufficiently delay the descent of thefriskets, when the platen falls, to allow the latter to release the sheet forthe purpose of permitting its withdrawal before the gage-stops are reached.

In order to remove the sheet after it has received the impression,thegripper-carriage, L,is employed. This is mounted to slide toand-fro upon bars, L, hinged at one end by pintles, Z, to brackets, Z, from the delivery end of the conveyor-frame adjacent to the outer edge of the platen, and, at the other end, pivoted to radius-bars, L which are jo.ur naled upon ashaft, Z running transversely of the main-frame at its outer side and near the bottom thereof and accommodate themselves to the up and down vibrations of said conveyer frame and platen. Upon the last mentioned shaft is also mounted a lever, L which is attached by slot and pin, F, for the adj ustment of its throw, to a connecting-rod, L strapped to eccentric, L on the cam-shaft. The upper end of the lever is connected by link, Z and pendent lug or ear, Z to the gripper-carriage, so that with each revolution of the cam-shaft, and that implies each rise and fall of the platen, the gripper-carriage shall be advanced and retracted. The lower gripper-finger, L is practically a flat-spring, secured at one end to the gripper-carriage and thence curved up and then horizontally to'its receiving end. The upper gripper-finger, L is mounted upon a rock-shaft, L being readily secured thereto by means of a split sleeve or hub and thumb-screw. This rock-shaft or gripper-shaft is mounted in standards, Z from the gripper-carriage and is acted upon by a .turn issucceeded by a step or shoulder, m .toward which the trip-dog is constantly urged by its spring. NVhen the trip-dog engages with the shoulder the upper gripper-finger is held open, while it is in the recess said finger is forced against the lower one by means of the spring on its shaft. Secured to the delivery end of the platen is a trip stop, m, arranged in the path of the. trip-dog so that as the open gripper-fingers reach the extreme of their inward traverse and are one on each side of .the projecting margin of the sheet, as in Fig. 6, the trip-dog will come against this stop and be forced out of engagement with the shoulder and drop into the recess, as the trip-latch is carried up by the spring on the gripper-shaft, where it will remain during the outward traverse, being held by frictional contact with the vertical face of the shoulder. At the extreme of the outer traverse is a camarm, m arranged in the path of the triplatch, as inFig. 7, and against which the inclined or beveled end of the trip-latch strikes as the carriage reaches it, thus being forced down to open the upper gripper-finger, permitting the sheet that has been withdrawn from between the platen and form to fall upon the table, N, beneath and releasing the tripdog from therecess, and leaving it free to snap over the shoulder of the latch by the force of the spring on its shaft and lock said latch with the fingers open for the ensuing forward traverse.

Thetable, N, may if desired, be adj ustably supported from the frame by means of a leg, n, sleeve, n, and clamping-screw,n as shown, or it may be permanently fixed in place.

To insure the escape or ejection of the sheet from between the gripper-fingers, when they open, an ejector-finger, N, one or more, is employed. This consists of a bent wire of small diameter secured at one end to an arm, n from the rock-shaft which supports the upper gripper-finger, and thence passing through a guide-eye, a in the lower finger, then bent up vertically, as at, n, and passing through a slot in the end of said lower finger and up alongside the upper finger. By the oscillation of the rock-shaft whenever the upper finger is closing the ejector-finger will be drawn back, giving sufficient space for the margin of the sheet to be seized, but as it opens at the extreme of the outward traverse, the ej ector-finger will be moved forward to push the sheet from between the two gripper-fingers.

Feed-tables, O, are supported from the bench at the receiving end of the machine, one at each side of the conveyer and about flush with the upper edges of its lateral guards, and a light presser-spring or springs, 0, will be arranged over said conveyer to hold the sheet down thereupon in its passage, and in a measure retard it, so that the conveyer-fingers, overtaking it, may align it for delivery to the rake or push-fingers.

In operation the attendant may be seated at the receiving end of the conveyer between the two tables and feed from both alternately with the right and left hand. The belts carry the sheet on beneath the presser-spring or finger, or other suitable retarding device, which delay it sufficiently to allow the teeth on the belts to catch up with and come squarely against it, when it is carried to the month of the chute. The rake or push-fingers at that moment get behind it and push it on over the tympan and against the register-fingers. The platen end of the conveyer-frame is then raised by the eccentrics on the cam-shaft, the sheet clamped by the friskets and carried against the form and the impression made, at which time the gripper-fingers will be sufficiently advanced to grip the sheet,when, as the platen falls away from the form, it will be grasped by the gripper-fingers, released by the friskets, withdrawn by the rearward movement of the gripper-carriage and dropped upon the table or receptacle beneath. Meanwhile another sheet will be deposited upon the tympan, the conveyer-frame will again be elevated at the platen end for another impression, the gripper-fingers will concurrently move forward and the operation will be repeated without any interval of rest to the machine.

The subject-matter of an application filed by me in the Patent Office of the United States on the 15th day of May, 1893, Serial No. 474,329, embraces my improvements in the inking apparatus and in the construction of the cheek-plates and the combinations into which they enter with said inking and other apparatus, such as the form, or platen, or

drum, or inking-table, and, therefore, I make no claim to these matters herein, intending to reserve them fully for such application, but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination substantially ashereinbefore set forth, of a printing bed, the vibrating conveyer-frame, the platen mounted thereon, a toothed conveyer terminating adjacent to the platen, and a rake which takes the sheet from the conveyer-teeth and carries it over the tympan.

2. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the vibrating conveyerframe, conveyer-belts mounted thereon and having teeth set in pairs abreast at distances between the parts corresponding to the timing of the vibrations, the over-head printingbed, the platen mounted upon the conveyerframe beneath said bed and means for transferri ng matter from the conveyer to the platen.

3. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the oscillating conveyerframe, the platen mounted on said conveyerframe, the printing-bed above, the toothedbelts delivering the sheet adjacent to said platen, the adjustable side guards and the rake which carries the material onward from the belts and deposits it over the platen.

4. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the printing-bed and vibratingconveyer-frame, of the platen mounted on said frame beneath the bed, the toothed conveyer-belts, the register fingers fixed to the stationary frame outside of the platen, and the rake for carrying the material onward from the conveyer-belts or teeth over the platen and against said fingers.

5. The combination substantially as here inbefore set forth, with the printing-bed, and with the vibrating conveyer-frame and platen mounted at the delivery end thereof, of the register fingers fixed to the stationary frame at the outer side of the platen whereby they rise above the surface of the platen when it is down and are left beneath when it is raised.

6. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the platen and the conveyer delivering theretoward, of the guidechutes at each side of the platen and the rake for delivering material into said chutes and over the platen.

7. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the platen, of the feedchannel, the reciprocating rake-carriage, the rock-shaft mounted thereon above the feedchannel, the forked push-fingers or rake-teeth carried by said rock-shaft, the rearwardly projected arm from said rock-shaft, and the switch tracks operating on said arm to raise or depress the fingers.

8. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the reciprocating rakehead and its push-fingers, and controlling arm, of the switch-tracks constructed as described, with a central flange downwardly curved at one end and terminating in a spring gate at the other end, and the coiled spring on the rake-head.

9. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the vibrating conveyer-frame, the printing bed and the platen upon said frame beneath the bed, of the reciprocating gripper.

10. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the vibrating conveyer-frame, the printing bed and the platen upon said frame beneath the bed, of the reciprocating gripper and its ejector-finger.

11. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the printing bed, vibrating conveyer-frame and platen thereon, of the reciprocating grippercarriage, the

guide-rods therefor hinged to the platen or conveyer-frame, and the vibrating-links to the upper end of which the outer ends of said rods are pivoted.

12. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set'forth, with the reciprocating gripper-carriage, and vibrating ways on which it slides to and fro, of the trip-latch, the trip-dog,

the disengaging stop atone end of the traverse for said dog and the cam for the latch, at the outer end of the traverse, to reset the dog.

13. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the reciprocating gripper-carriage, its rock-shaft, the spring acting on said rock-shaft, the movable gripper-finger fixed to said rock-shaft and the stationary gripper-finger fixed to the carriage, an ejector finger to strip the gripper fingers the triplatch on said rock-shaft and the trip-dog on an overhead rock-shaft, arranged to engage alternately with a recess and with a shoulder on said trip-latch, the disengaging stop for the dog and the resetting cam.

14. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the printing-bed and with the vertically vibrating conveyer frame and platen thereon, of the fixed register-fingers and the reciprocating gripper.

15. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the fixed gripper-finger and movable gripper-finger and the rockshaft upon which the latter is mounted, of the arm from said rock-shaft, and an ejectorfinger pivoted to the end of said arm and passing through a guide eye in the fixed gripper-finger.

16. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the vibrating conveyer-frame, the bed and the platen, of the eccentrics on the cam-shaft and connecting rods strapped to said eccentrics and hinged beneath the delivery end of said conveyerframe whereby the latter is carried up toward the printing-bed and withdrawn therefrom. r

17. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the feed channel having side guards and the toothed conveyorbelts having teeth arranged by pairs at distances apart lengthwise of the belts corresponding to the timing of the machine, of a retarding device for sheet held upon said belts whereby the teeth may catch up with said sheet and properly align it for delivery.

18. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the feed-channel, having side guards and with the toothed conveyer-belts timed as set forth, of the retardding finger, or spring arranged to press upon the blanks delivered to said belts, and retard them until the teeth overtake them.

19. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the vibrating conveyer-frame, and the platen mounted thereon, of the friskets and accessory mechanism whereby said friskets are clamped against the platen after the blank is delivered and permitted to rise with said platen in the vibrations of the bed.

20. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the vibrating conveyer-frame and platen mounted thereon, of the friskets, mechanism adapted to clamp said friskets upon the bed and permit them to rise therewith and to retard them as the platen begins to descend.

21. The combination substantially as here inbefore set forth, of the vibrating conveyerbed, the platen, the fixed register fingers, the friskets and the reciprocating gripper-fingers.

22. The combination substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the platen and vibrating conveyer-frame on which it ismounted, of the vertically sliding friskets, the eccentric on the cam-shaft, the slotted link with its roller taking over the periphery of said eccentric, the intermediate rock-shaft and the.

spring coiled around said rock-shaft, whereby the friskets are clamped upon the platen yieldingly and elastically, and caused to rise therewith, but relatively retarded in their descent.

JAMES R. MCDONALD.

Witnesses:

A. S. WELLS, M. E. SHIELDS. 

